--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My principal sin is doubt. I doubt…" description: "\"My principal sin is doubt. I doubt everything, and am in doubt most of the time.\" — Leo Tolstoy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/leo-tolstoy-55_contradiction_my-principal-sin-is-doubt-i-doubt-everyt_1809614.png" --- # My principal sin is doubt. I doubt everything, and am in… ![“My principal sin is doubt. I doubt everything, and am in doubt most of the time.” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/leo-tolstoy-55_contradiction_my-principal-sin-is-doubt-i-doubt-everyt_1809614.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/leo-tolstoy-55_contradiction_my-principal-sin-is-doubt-i-doubt-everyt_1809614.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/leo-tolstoy-55_contradiction_my-principal-sin-is-doubt-i-doubt-everyt_1809614.png) > “My principal sin is doubt. I doubt everything, and am in doubt most of the time.” [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker confesses that chronic uncertainty dominates his mindset, undermining confidence and decision‑making. **In simple terms:** I doubt everything most of the time. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty, seek clarity through action. Themes self‑doubt confidence philosophy Mood anxious introspective Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal reflection - decision making - creative work - relationships Key Concepts existentialism cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - How does doubt affect your daily choices? - What steps can reduce chronic uncertainty? A Different Perspective Doubt can paralyze progress if not addressed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contradiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“No doubt he is more than that, but we have no time to inquire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-levine/no-doubt-he-is-more-than-that-but-we-have-no-time-to-inquire/) [Sara Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-levine/) > [I have anxiety and self-doubt all the time, it's a battle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-odudu/i-have-anxiety-and-self-doubt-all-the-time-it-s-a-battle/) [A. J. Odudu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-odudu/) > [I've always operated with a great deal of self-doubt. Every time I start a new book it's like, well, this one will destroy the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/i-ve-always-operated-with-a-great-deal-of-self-doubt-every-time-i/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [Every job I take, within minutes Im thinking, I cant do this. I think its what makes me work. People think I just swagger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-winstone/every-job-i-take-within-minutes-im-thinking-i-cant-do-this-i-think/) [Ray Winstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-winstone/) > [When in doubt, take more time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-zimmerman/when-in-doubt-take-more-time/) [John Zimmerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-zimmerman/) > [“how much Jesus had broken away from the historically conditioned attitudes of his time, for the prevailing idea at that time was that good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-a-sanford/how-much-jesus-had-broken-away-from-the-historically-conditioned/) [John A. Sanford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-a-sanford/) > [Let us not fear the opposition of men; every great movement in the Church from Paul down to modern times has been criticized on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gresham-machen/let-us-not-fear-the-opposition-of-men-every-great-movement-in-the/) [John Gresham Machen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gresham-machen/) > [“And indeed there is little opportunity for the old and poor to sin, except to doubt God’s goodness, and if God cannot understand why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-zimmer-bradley/and-indeed-there-is-little-opportunity-for-the-old-and-poor-to-sin/) [Marion Zimmer Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-zimmer-bradley/) > [It is no sin to doubt some things but it may be fatal to believe everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/it-is-no-sin-to-doubt-some-things-but-it-may-be-fatal-to-believe/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [“Lust was his favorite sin, without a doubt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-darhower/lust-was-his-favorite-sin-without-a-doubt/) [J.M. Darhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-darhower/) > [“Before the war, a white man named Jonathan Edwards came to Stockbridge to teach my people about sin, but I doubt very much he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-clare/before-the-war-a-white-man-named-jonathan-edwards-came-to-stockbridge/) [Pamela Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-clare/) > [At certain times in the revolutionary struggle, the difficulties outweigh the favorable conditions and so constitute the principal aspect of the contradiction and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/at-certain-times-in-the-revolutionary-struggle-the-difficulties/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [The principal hindrance to the advancement of the kingdom of God is greed. It is the chief obstacle to heaven-sent revival. It seems that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-s-hawkins/the-principal-hindrance-to-the-advancement-of-the-kingdom-of-god-is/) [O. S. Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-s-hawkins/) > [A Jealous person doesn't doubt others- they doubt themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christy-fedor/a-jealous-person-doesn-t-doubt-others-they-doubt-themselves/) Christy Fedor > [“small monster in my brain that controls my doubt. The doubt itself is a stupid thing, without sense or feeling, blind and straining at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-zappia/small-monster-in-my-brain-that-controls-my-doubt-the-doubt-itself-is/) [Francesca Zappia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-zappia/) ## More by Leo Tolstoy > [These joys were so trifling as to be as imperceptible as grains of gold among the sand, and in moments of depression she saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/these-joys-were-so-trifling-as-to-be-as-imperceptible-as-grains-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-only-significance-of-life-consists-in-helping-to-establish-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Energy rests upon love; and come as it will, there's no forcing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/energy-rests-upon-love-and-come-as-it-will-there-s-no-forcing-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“If you only knew what those society women are, and women in general! My father is right. Selfish, vain, stupid, trivial in everything—that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/if-you-only-knew-what-those-society-women-are-and-women-in-general-my/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To speak of it would be giving importance to that which has none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-speak-of-it-would-be-giving-importance-to-that-which-has-none/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Once we're thrown off our habitual paths, we think all is lost, but it's only here that the new and the good begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/once-we-re-thrown-off-our-habitual-paths-we-think-all-is-lost-but-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He knew she was there by the rapture and the terror that seized on his heart. She was standing talking to a lady at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-knew-she-was-there-by-the-rapture-and-the-terror-that-seized-on/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Rest, nature, books, music...such is my idea of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/rest-nature-books-music-such-is-my-idea-of-happiness/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He was not to blame for being born with an irrepressible charachter and a mind some how constrained.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-was-not-to-blame-for-being-born-with-an-irrepressible-charachter/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do. But if even that cannot be, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-ask-one-thing-only-i-ask-for-the-right-to-hope-to-suffer-as-i-do/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The idea shared by many that life is a vale of tears is just as false as the idea shared by the great majority,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-idea-shared-by-many-that-life-is-a-vale-of-tears-is-just-as-false/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-say-that-a-work-of-art-is-good-but-incomprehensible-to-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [True life is lived when tiny changes occur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/true-life-is-lived-when-tiny-changes-occur/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) [Explore all 1,754 Leo Tolstoy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## More Contradiction quotes > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/courage-is-almost-a-contradiction-in-terms-it-means-a-strong-desire/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is also plausible that those movements with the greatest inner contradiction and between profession and practice - that is to say with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-also-plausible-that-those-movements-with-the-greatest-inner/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Contradictions in human character are one of its most consistent notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-spark/contradictions-in-human-character-are-one-of-its-most-consistent-notes/) [Muriel Spark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-spark/) > [“The tiny features below, taken together with the gentle mass of Montblanc towering above them, the Vanoise glacier almost invisible in the shimmering distance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/the-tiny-features-below-taken-together-with-the-gentle-mass-of/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-m-a-skeptic-not-because-i-do-not-want-to-believe-but-because-i-want/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [There are evidently limits to the achievements of science; and there are irresolvable contradictions both between prosperity and virtue, and between happiness and ''the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/there-are-evidently-limits-to-the-achievements-of-science-and-there/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [To exist (in mathematics), said Henri Poincaré, is to be free from contradiction. But mere existence does not guarantee survival. To survive in mathematics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kac/to-exist-in-mathematics-said-henri-poincar-is-to-be-free-from/) [Mark Kac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kac/) > [“In these creations, life and symbolic value are not in contradiction: they intensify each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/in-these-creations-life-and-symbolic-value-are-not-in-contradiction/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I have never agreed with my other self wholly. The truth of the matter seems to lie between us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/i-have-never-agreed-with-my-other-self-wholly-the-truth-of-the-matter/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [“A truth is not necessary, because we negatively are not able to conceive the actual existence of the opposite thereof;but a truth is necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-l-dabney/a-truth-is-not-necessary-because-we-negatively-are-not-able-to/) R.L. Dabney > [The pictures that were coming from Vietnam were showing us what was really happening on the ground level. It was in contradiction to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/the-pictures-that-were-coming-from-vietnam-were-showing-us-what-was/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [Here I encounter the most popular fallacy of our times. It is not considered sufficient that the law should guarantee to every citizen the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/here-i-encounter-the-most-popular-fallacy-of-our-times-it-is-not/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [That the sun will not rise tomorrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction, than the affirmation, that it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/that-the-sun-will-not-rise-tomorrow-is-no-less-intelligible-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [The reflection of nature in man's thought must be understood not lifelessly but in the eternal process of movement, the arising of contradictions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/the-reflection-of-nature-in-man-s-thought-must-be-understood-not/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) [Browse all 1,263 Contradiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My principal sin is doubt. 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